A ‘White Glove’ Auction - Books from the Ecclesiastical Collection of Joseph MendhamA selection of 339 ecclesiastical books from the collection of clergyman and controversialist Joseph Mendham sold on Thursday 20th March through Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions. A ‘white glove’ auctio

A ‘White Glove’ Auction
Books from the Ecclesiastical Collection of Joseph Mendham

A selection of 339 ecclesiastical books from the collection of clergyman and controversialist Joseph Mendham sold on Thursday 20th March through Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions. A ‘white glove’ auction for the London based saleroom saw every lot sell for a total of £357,392.

Rupert Powell, Deputy Chairman of Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions said: “We are extremely pleased with the results from this outstanding auction. They confirm the strength of Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions position in the bibliographic market, in even the most highly specialised areas.”

London- born Joseph Mendham was educated at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford until graduating from his MA in 1795. It was here that he was heavily influenced by evangelicalism under its vice-principal, Isaac Crouch. In 1793 he was ordained deacon and priest the following year, but resigned his curacy in 1826 to devote his time to book collecting and the authorship of various works on Reformation and post-Reformation controversies. Mendham collected a wide variety of material by 16th – 17th century Catholic and Protestant writers much of which he used in his writings as a strong advocate on the protestant side. In 1836 Mendham was appointed perpetual curate of Hill, near Sutton Coldfield but soon retired due to ill health.

A copy of the New Testament in both Greek and Latin, Novum Testamentu (1535), prepared by theologian Desiderius Erasmus, and printed by Johann Froben of Basel, was the highlight of the sale, realising a fantastic £10,800. Containing commentaries by Erasmus, that were taken from both Greek manuscripts and segments translated from Latin Vulgate, the book was originally from the library of fellow theologian, book collector, and chaplain to George III, Rev. César de Missy. This copy of the fifth and final edition was first sold alongside the rest of his books at auction on 18 March 1776, and the ink inscription on the first title page reads: "Ex libris Caesaris De Missy Berolinensis Londini: An. Dm 1748." [Lot 39]

A copy of Catechismus Brevis Christianae Disciplinae Summam Continens (1552), attributed to English protestant churchman, and controversial writer, John Ponet, carries notes and inscriptions from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. This remarkable book was sold in the first ever public auction of books in England, and belonged to the clergyman Dr Lazarus Seaman (d. 1675) and Michael Lort (1724/5-90), clergyman, antiquary and librarian to the archbishop of Canterbury.

Written in Latin, this copy of the book was sold as lot 1079 for £5 5s in the Heber sale, an auction that lasted a staggering 216 days and saw the 105,000 volumes that comprised the library of the prolific book-collector Richard Heber, go under the hammer. In his book Certamen Epistolare (1692) Heylin writes: “this Catechism is so hard to come by, that scarce one scholar in 500 hath ever heard of it; and hardly one in a 1000 hath ever seen it”. This exceedingly rare copy